snowtop | 003. (v2) [video]

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003. (v2) [video]

[At first, there is no sound; there is only the image of Xanth's forearm. Lines of letters curl around his fingers, twist around his hand, and spiral onto his arm. The ink, jet black, is stark against his pale skin.]

Th-this-- it means I-I've been-- t-too quiet, right? I-It... it wants me to-- t-to say... s-something.

[It's been a while since he's checked in, made sure people knew he hadn't vanished, but there is nothing to say.

The feed remains set on Xanth's arm.]

I'm... o-okay. I'm s--still here.

A-Are... are you guys... o-okay, too?

[He heard that crack some days ago. No one has called for help on the journals, so no one was hurt in the expedition that came after, and no one had been hurt during the initial bang.

Or so he hopes.]

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It wants you to say something?!? Don't listen to it! That is really not good. Really, really not good.

Look I've seen this before, and I can get rid of it. Have you touched Edger Allen Poe's book or quill? I need to find it now before [She trails off ominously.]

Well, I just need to find it. Then you'll be OK.

[She thinks.]

[... well this does give him pause.]

Um. N-No, I... I-I haven't? The-- th-the only quill I've t-touched recently is-- the-- th-the one that... c-came with my j--journal.

[The last book he touched, aside from his journal, was Common Fauna of the Tropical Rainforest.

The Keep is lacking fascinating reading material, unfortunately.]

[Huh, well that's not right.]

Maybe it got switched when you weren't looking. Do you have any enemies?

I can fix this, I just need your pen. And don't write anything violent or painful!

I-- wh-- w-why would I write-- um.

[All this confusion is actually nice for a change. It gives him a little something to focus on.]

I-I think-- I think you've-- g-got it wrong, um-- this d-didn't just happen to-- to me, it, the, the ink thing-- i-it happens i-if you don't-- m-make entries in your j-journal thing.

I mean. I. I-I think.

[He's seen other journal posts about it. Not for a while, but in passing, in the past. Unless he was misremembering...]

Woh woh woh, let me get this straight. If you don't write in this thing. Creepy words sprawl out all over you. And you're not worried by this?

[OK something is wrong with people here, cause she'd be worried if ink started crawling on her.]

If I'm wrong no big whop, if you're wrong [She trails off.]

Did you touch any other books? Besides your journal?

[It's just now that it dawns on him that no, he's not worried by this; he's just so jaded by the supernatural.

But perhaps this woman is right.

The video comes on and sweeps over Xanth's Pile O' Books. Some titles are visible and some are not; those that are visible are only research books.]

U-Um. Yeah. Just... th-these from the-- the library...

[Claudia face palms.]

I'm gonna need all of those.

And the quill.

[She pauses a moment]

Are you. Feeling OK?

Um, o-okay...

[There are some sounds of shuffling and ruffling. He's cleaning up his room a little bit - by, oh no! Touching the books!]

I'm-- f-fine. M-My room's-- um-- o-one-- z-zero zero o-one.

[First floor, first door. Quite simple to remember, actually.]

You'll be fine in no time! I'm on my way.

[Any other time she make a joke about his number being in binary, but she thinks he's about to keel over. Maybe another time.]

[And Xanth just keeps cleaning up. He's eighty percent sure that he is not going to die - and don't other people have quills like this, too? It never needs refilling, which is weird, but it came with his journal and he hasn't used it in ages.

These are all things he intends to explain to...

To...

It's now he realizes that he never got her name.

Oh, dear.

But, room in a little better of a state, Xanth waits for the knock on his door.]

[Claudia rushes to his room with her bagging artifact kit in tow. It wasn't so much as a kit, more of a neutralizing bag and her purple gloves, but still.

She slides up to his door, and gives the door a quick rapid knock. She waits bouncing on the balls of her feet.]

[When Xanth answers the door, Claudia will find that he does not have the perky, clean, short-haired appearance so aptly captured in his icons. Instead, his hair is down to his shoulders and clearly unwashed; dark circles rest below his eyes; and he looks just a little too thin.

But he offers her a smile all the same.]

H-- uh, hi. Y-You, um. You're here for the the-- the quill? A-And-- the books?

[Yeah his appearance isn't going to help convince her that words showing up on your arms is normal, and nothing to worry about. Her eyes grow wide at the sight of him. She tries to squash down her worry and put on a smile. Pretty unsuccessfully.]

Maybe you should sit down?

[She walks into his room. It's not hard to spot the books in the tiny room.]

Are those all of them?

[Xanth shakes his head.]

I--I'm okay.

[Then, he follows her gaze to the books that are now stacked on his bed. There are three stacks - two of them holding four books, one of them holding three. At the end sits his journal, the quill laying atop it.]

Y--yeah. That's... th-that's all.

[She really doesn't believe him, like at all. She raises an eyebrow at him but she'll let it go.

She picks up his journal and quill, and holds them both above the open bag.]

You might want to stand back.

[And Xanth does the exact opposite: he rushes forward and reaches for the journal in Claudia's hand.]

W-What, no, what-- w-what're you d--doing?

[She pulls the journal away and holds it at arms length behind her. It's got a hold of his mind or something.]

It's fine, I'm just going to neutralize it. The bag just sparks. OK? Everything it'll be fine.

[She really hope he believes her, and doesn't pull a Gollum on her.]

[MY PRECIOUSSSS

no.

Xanth's hand hangs in the air a moment longer before he pulls it back. He huffs a sigh.]

F-F--Fine. Sure.

[And he takes a step back. Please, for the love of all that's holy, don't break it.]

[She holds the journal and quill back over the bag. Checks to make sure he's not gonna rush her. She turns her face away and holds the bag as far away from herself as possible, as she drops them in. Nothing happens.]

Well that wasn't it.

[Xanth is quiet for a moment and chews on his lip. He's relieved that his journal and quill are not broken, or so it seems, but Claudia looks so confused.]

W-What-- what'd you th--think was going to-- to happen?

[She a little dejected. Damn she'd been hoping it was the journals. Creepy things just weren't right.]

It should've sparked.

Don't worry, that just means one of the other books is the artifact.

[She puts his journal back and picks up another book.

[This time, Xanth just lets her do her thing. He's not terribly attached to those books, so if they blow up, well, that's okay.]

Wh... w-what do you m-mean, a--artifact?

[She drops in the book and quill in. Again nothing. She dumps them out, and reaches for another book.]

An artifact is an object that got imbued with the essence of a person.

The last time this happened they belonged to Edgar Allen Poe. If you used his quill and wrote something from one of his stories it came to life. Still not a fan of the word pendulum, by the way. You read from his journal you ended up covered in words.

O-Oh.

[Well now it all makes sense; Xanth's arm is covered in letters. But this has happened to other people, he's sure of it...]

W-What if... none of th-these are-- the-- th-the artif--fact?

[She hadn't thought of that yet. A flash of worry appears on her face as she drops the next books in; again with no results. She squashes down her worry. It'll be fine.]

Ah, it's probably one of these. Don't worry.

[What would Myka do?]

If for some reason they're not it, not that they wouldn't be. Just if it isn't one of these we'll just have to look for more books.

[Video]

[Audio]

[Video] I'm just gonna go ahead and apoligize for her.

[Audio] NO I LOVE HER

[Video] XD

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